Fast Results E-Zine
When you sign up, you'll get instant access to my article archives, exclusive content and other freebies. Plus, we will never sell, rent or share your information so sign up today.
Search
Bookmark this Page
Blog Carnivals
Blogroll
Resources
Categories
- 10 Things (2)
- Blog Carnival (8)
- Bullying (3)
- Career (51)
- Communicators in the news (20)
- events (1)
- General (15)
- Goal Setting (20)
- Health (1)
- Inspiration (21)
- Interpersonal Communication (30)
- Job Interview (25)
- Leadership (5)
- Learning (2)
- Motivation (47)
- Networking (16)
- Online Success (6)
- Personal (5)
- Politics (20)
- Public Speaking (121)
- Quick Tip (7)
- Review (2)
- success (4)
- Time Management (5)
- Toastmasters (27)
- Video of the Week (14)
- Writing (5)
Archives
- March 2010 (6)
- February 2010 (12)
- January 2010 (6)
- December 2009 (7)
- November 2009 (12)
- October 2009 (12)
- September 2009 (3)
- August 2009 (6)
- July 2009 (11)
- June 2009 (16)
- May 2009 (8)
- April 2009 (7)
- March 2009 (10)
- February 2009 (7)
- January 2009 (8)
- December 2008 (5)
- November 2008 (3)
- October 2008 (7)
- September 2008 (11)
- August 2008 (9)
- July 2008 (18)
- June 2008 (9)
- May 2008 (14)
- April 2008 (14)
- March 2008 (11)
- February 2008 (10)
- January 2008 (13)
- December 2007 (13)
- November 2007 (2)
- October 2007 (4)
- September 2007 (3)
- August 2007 (4)
- July 2007 (3)
- June 2007 (4)
- April 2007 (1)
- February 2007 (2)
- January 2007 (3)
- December 2006 (2)
- November 2006 (7)
- October 2006 (6)
- September 2006 (12)
A couple days ago, Bill Clinton gave a speech to people supporting his wife’s campaign. Some guy, dressed as a robot, interrupted his talk, demanding an apology for some rapper, and threw papers around. Clinton, in a calm manner, told him “you need to find more environmentally responsible ways to protest” and “you can disagree with me without killing trees.”
Now, Clinton had the audience on his side (he’s obviously very popular among his wife’s supporters), but he did several things right that we can learn from when we’re heckled during a talk:
- He remained calm and wasn’t thrown off. Being President for eight years (and all the prep work to accomplish that) gives you ample opportunity to deal with hostile audiences and people who disagree with you.
- He appealed to the audience with his response. People that support his wife are big on the environment so being able to quickly respond the way he did was impressive.
- He was clever in his response. He turned the tables on the heckler by making him look like the fool. Contrast this with “Were you invited to speak here?” which Hillary used on a protester during a speech in LA a few weeks back. It didn’t have quite the effect.
- He didn’t pretend that the heckler wasn’t there. Doing so would have made him appear weak.
Hecklers are a fact of life for all speakers. Some are just trying to appease their egos by showing off or upstaging the presenters. Others may disagree, dislike or even hate the speaker and their objective is to send their message to the speaker regardless of how foolish they may come across.
I recommend that speakers who are prone to protesters and hecklers (politicians, activists or anyone who is presenting a controversial perspective) practice with hecklers. Get a mock audience together and ask a few people to act as hecklers. Practicing dealing with this will not only help you develop some polished responses, but they’ll give you the confidence to stay calm and composed.
Regardless of your opinion of Bill Clinton, I recommend checking out the video of him dealing with the heckler – it’s a great example.
ShareCheck out these Related posts:
- A different perspective on Michael Richards I liked Seinfeld and Kramer was my favorite character...
- Bill Gates Takes Using Props to the Next Level by Unleashing Swarm of Deadly Bugs on Crowd So you’re the richest man in the world (or...
- Does Toastmasters Really Need the Ah Counter Role? I’ll never forget my first Toastmasters meeting back in...
- Joe Wilson: Unprofessional or Brilliant? Last night during President Obama’s speech, Representative Joe Wilson...
- Executive Leadership Since today is President’s Day, I figured it would...
- Gender, race & religion: The odd media coverage of the 2008 Election In a recent CIO Insight article, Elizabeth Edwards has...
- The Unexpected – it can be good or bad A few weeks ago, I came across a web site...




(No Ratings Yet)calendar
| M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| « Nov | Jan » | |||||
| 1 | 2 | |||||
| 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
| 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| 31 | ||||||
Recent Posts
Popular Articles
- Interview Question: What are your strengths and weaknesses?
- How to Answer the Strengths and Weaknesses Job Interview Question
- Public Speaking Success: How to Get Ideas for Speech Topics
- Hannah Montana Takes “Racy” Photos
- 25 Illegal Interview Questions
- A Fast Way to Improve Your Articulation
- Public Speaking: How to Write a Powerful Conclusion for Your Speech
- Have a Communication Fear? Here’s What To Do About it
- Public Speaking: How to Write a Speech - Part 1: Your Speech Outline
- Job Interview Questions: Where Do You Expect to Be in Five Years?
- Public Speaking Success: Three Ways to Make a Speech More Interesting
Recent Comments
- Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on The Speech Introduction - Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Public Speaking Success: How to Create a Presentation for Work - Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Career Success: 10 Tips for Productive Meetings - Xamuel
on 20 Revealing Interview Questions - 20 Revealing Interview Questions | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on 25 Illegal Interview Questions - Marketing 101 – Logic, Emotion, Needs and Wants « @rtstrategy
on Why We Feel Inadequate - Richard Garber
on Why We Feel Inadequate - Why We Feel Inadequate | Overnight Sensation - Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development
on Public Speaking Myths: You Must Immediately Capture Your Audience’s Attention
recent entries
- Don’t Let BlackBerry Addiction Ruin Your Presentation
- 20 Revealing Interview Questions
- Why We Feel Inadequate
- How to Exit a Conversation
- Interview Questions – Why did you Leave Your Last Job?
- February Blog Carnivals
- Illegal Job Interview Questions: How to Answer Them
- An Ingredient to Spice Up Your Presentation
- 25 Illegal Interview Questions
- 5 Social Media Mistakes That Can Prevent You from Getting a Job
Wordpress theme by Wordpress Themes & made free by Internet Marketing Center
© 2006-2008 James Feudo All Rights Reserved.



1 user commented on " Bill Clinton shows us how to handle hecklers "
May 25 2009
[...] a great speaker. In the past, you needed good substance as well as good style – Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton were examples of modern Presidents that spoke well and connected with people. Now, if you can relay [...]